Workplace Communication: Closing the Generation Gap

Understanding generational differences can help everyone work together better.

I was standing in front of my platoon giving a roll call briefing several years ago and I started scanning the room. I was talking about the usual fare-stolen vehicles, missing persons, and special patrol assignments-when I saw a lot of young empty faces staring at their yellow pads and pretending to take notes. All of a sudden it hit me that they were at best only half-listening to me.

There they were, the next generation of cops taking up space and breathing my air. I started to get angry. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt with a quick test. At one point I said, "My pants are on fire," and kept on talking about information our property detectives were looking for. Only one person looked up half heartedly, turned to the deputy sitting next to him, and asked, "Hey, did he just say his pants were on fire?" The other deputy looked over at him and said, "What did you just say?"

Needless to say, at that point, I broke into my old Army habits and went into the Sergeant Major mode, lambasting each and every one. As you can imagine it was ugly, but in my eyes it wasn't ugly enough.

You can't go old school on them because you'd end up in IA. They have the authority to use deadly force and kill if necessary, but say a curse word in front of them, and it becomes a hostile work environment. And yes, with my age combined with my years of experience, of course I talked about "back in the day" and the differences between old school and the Nintendo generation.

I stressed how they have been coddled by technology, counting on their mobile data computers and TASERs too much. About how us dinosaurs (their word for people like me) made arrests without TASERs and in-car computers, how we used to actually get out of our patrol cars, and how we actually took the time to learn our community. In my day we shook trees and kicked rocks to find the bad guy.

From Dinosaurs to Gen Y

Thinking back on what I said, I was clearly experiencing a generational divide. My philosophies are very different from the younger crowd, so in reality maybe it was more about me. So why is any generation gap such a big deal? The answer is simple and deep.

For the first time in history, we have four generations working side by side in the modern workplace. They consist of Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials (also known as Generation Y or Nexters). With four different groups working together, there is bound to be a collision between each other's set of values.

When I was young back in the '60s, grown-ups talked a great deal about the generation gap. It meant the old and young didn't understand each other very well. They couldn't communicate. If men are from Mars and women from Venus, the younger crowd is from Pluto.

From what I can tell, not much has changed; in fact it might even be worse. How often have you heard, "This new generation of cops just doesn't get it...they want it all but they don't want to work for it. All they do is text and play video games." Hell, I haven't just heard it, I've said it! Or how about hearing the opposite: "Damn, this guy's a dinosaur. He must have patrolled in sandals. Will someone please tell him this isn't the military and I don't care how hard it was 20 years ago?"

Hello, my name is Amaury Murgado, I'm a retired Army Reservist, a 23-year law enforcement veteran, and yes, I am one of the Baby Boomer dinosaurs; welcome to my world as a supervisor. So what's the answer to this question of generational divide?

We wear the same uniform and are supposed to be doing the same job. But how do we deal with this total lapse in communication? I suggest we learn to communicate better by understanding that there are and will always be differences in our values. We have no choice because we are a product of the times we grow up and live in.

The main issue here is that we tend to see differences and attach judgments to them. Different is not necessarily bad. Sun Tzu's ancient writings on strategy talks about knowing your enemy and knowing yourself. In this case we are one and the same. We are all part of the problem, so let's learn about each other and, in doing so, become part of the solution.

Comments (2)

Wow, a carefully spelled out generation by generation brief with a generation pros and cons and how to deal with them. This goes in the front of my Note book as a reference source when dealing with the different groups within any agency. It is concise and very knowledgable.

Fortunately he hits the highs and lows and tells it like it is when the tire hits the road. "You do it my way, until you get your own platoon!" He doesn't cover or apologize for his style, which is so nice to see in this world of Political correctness! I hate Political correct Officers, supervisors, and department heads. They make the job so much harder by adding trivial guidelines to an every changing profession. It always begs the question "Have they ever worked the street before?"

I can remember being told I was the problem, because Nuclear Scientist's don't lie! So in other words I was the liar because I was a cop. It amazed me how being a doctor, lawyer, or someone in position always caused a rift between a supervisor trying to appease them and the officers they had working for them.

Davesam25G @ 5/19/2011 8:28 PM

Well DONE!

Gee this is like a walk down memory lane...fit's both the offensive and defensive issues needed as a leader-supervisor! There is a time and place for some humor to relieve the high stress operations tempo - the old candy jar on my desk which one of the troops relabeled after see all the folks coming in with the emotions (she relabeled it) with another name…Did one of those assessments where the troops rate you, their only gripe with me was I was too serious (I can live with that)! Of course they got me with humor when rotating assignments…some of the statements were Original founder of the (P) jar Official acquaintance of Buddy Holly…and my all time favorite yes I had the flat butt syndrome even with a good belt - so they put on it hey Dave – Pull your pants up! Now there was a conspiracy here within the unit -when I processed out Colorado Springs for Reassignment to South Korea and it also happened at retirement- past follows you from the HQ Section, As I walked out of commanders office – Hey Dave pull up your pants – the First Sgt same thing, and then to top it off the commander’s secretary – yes same…I turned to them all gathering and laughing and blamed it on my mom!

The bottom line Lt. Amaury Murgado; Sir this was a needed best practice and it is in the toolbox for future use!! Thanks!!

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